


Standing Up

by ClaraHue



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25489573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaraHue/pseuds/ClaraHue
Summary: Ava faces someone making fun of Sara head on and ends up in detention
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 118





	Standing Up

"Can you believe Meghan invited her?"

A couple of girls from Ava's grade were huddled across the hall. Ava was sitting on the bench in the hallway of her school, eating her lunch over her textbooks, eavesdropping.

"I felt so uncomfortable. I just don't think she should have been invited, you know, with her being a lesbian and what."

There were probably ten or more Sara's at the school, but Ava had deduced that they were talking about Sara Lance.

"I know." Another girl spoke. "Since when were we friends with her anyway?"

"She's bisexual." Ava's voice is quiet, barely a murmur, but it’s enough to cause the girls to look over at her.

"What did you say Sharpe?"

"Sara, she's not a lesbian, she's bisexual. She's said so before."

"Bisexuality isn't real." The leader of the group, Renee, laughed and moved towards Ava. "Why are you standing up for her Ava, are you her friend now?"

Ava shook her head.

"She's probably one too." Another girl said, standing behind Renee with her arms crossed.

Ava moved her books off of her lap, standing up to put them away. She didn’t want to get into this with them.

"Disgusting," Renee said.

"You’re disgusting!" Anger fizzled through Ava. She was tired of their remarks, of their ignorance and hatred.

"That the best you've got?" Renee challenged her.

Ava's fist moved before she thought her action through. Suddenly she had punch Renee's nose.

"What the fuck!" Renee swore as her friends went to her aid. They were retreating quickly, and Ava knew she had messed up bad.

-

"Do you know why your here Miss Sharpe?" The principal asked.

"I punched Renee in the face." Her parents were going to kill her. Maybe she was lucky she didn't have a social life, because her parents would surely be grounding her for a month, maybe more.

"We do not promote violence within this establishment, Miss Sharpe. There were many ways in which you could have de-escalated your fight, but you chose to punch poor Miss Rothberg. You broke the poor girl’s nose."

"I'm sorry." Ava did feel horrible for that. No matter what Renee had said.

"You will be getting detention for the week."

Detention began the start of the following week. The principal had called Ava's parents, and her phone and laptop had been taken away. She was now sitting in the empty gymnasium as the teacher running detention looked down at her watch. The gymnasium doors opened and in walked the same Sara Lance who had gotten Ava into this mess to begin with. Ava let out a groan of annoyance.

"Mrs. Bell, nice afternoon, isn't it?" Sara smiled at the teacher.

"You’re late Sara."

Sara shrugged, turning toward the bleachers. "Wait, Ava Sharpe?"

Ava groaned.

"Um, I think there's been a mistake," Sara said.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Bell was confused.

"Um, Ava's like the teacher’s pet. She would never be in detention."

"Well, she’s here now, so sit down Sara." Sara looked curiously over at Ava as Mrs. Bell explained to them that they would have to sweep and mop the gymnasium and the atrium. After they were finished, they were free to go. She was going to be grading in her office if they needed anything.

Ava got up and grabbed the broom as soon as Mrs. Bell left, leaving her alone in the room with Sara.

"I’ll sweep, and you can mop,” Ava said.

"I'm so confused, how did you get detention?”

Ava didn't respond right away, choosing to start sweeping. "I punched Renee and broke her nose."

"Holy fuck!" Sara started laughing uncontrollably.

"It’s not funny. I hurt her."

"That's amazing. I can't. You broke her nose! God, I wish I had done that."

Ava stared down at the floor, remembering how Renee had spoken about Sara, how Renee’s friends spoke about her. Maybe it should have been Sara to have punched her.

"She probably deserved it. She’s a bitch."

Ava just hummed, making no disagreement.

Sara pushed herself up and began moping the parts of the floor Ava swept. "So does this bring down your straight-A, grade point average?"

"No," Ava mumbled, remembering a small spat Sara and she had gotten in not too long ago.

_Ava stared down at her mark, a C. Her parents wouldn’t be happy. She looked over her test, trying to find a reason to fight for a better grade._

_“Mr. Burg, I don’t think you graded my paper properly.” She told her math teacher. “Like this question.” She pointed to the page._

_“You got that answer wrong.”_

_“But shouldn’t I get marks for showing my work?”_

_“I’m sorry Ava, what you got is the final mark. I’m not changing it.”_

_Ava sighed with defeat and went back to her desk._

_“What mark did you get that made you so upset?” Sara had asked, leaning over her desk to get a look at Ava’s test. “C, wow, come on Ava. You’re upset over a C? I would be so lucky to get a C.”_

_“Well, then maybe you should study harder.” Ava had snapped back, instantly regretting it as soon as she said it._

-

The next day at detention, Ava and Sara were assigned to organizing books in the library. Ava was shocked to see how much if a mess there was in the back room. They sat down on the ground and began organizing them in alphabetical order by last name.

"Another A." Sara handed Ava a book, and Ava put it in the A pile. "What did she say?” She asked as Ava came back to grab the next book. “G"

"Hmm?" Ava placed the book in the G pile.

"Renee. B."

Ava took the book. "Oh." She stayed quiet, and Sara glared at her.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"It’s not important."

Sara waved the book in her hands back and forth. "Tell me, or you don't get my help."

"You know I could just tell Mrs. Bell that you’re not helping and get you detention for another week." Ava countered.

Sara didn't seem to please with that. “Harsh." She placed the book in Ava's hands.

Ava waited for her to tell her the letter category to put it in, but Sara just cocked her head. Ava groaned, _so that was how Sara was going to play it_. She turned the book around to read the author’s name.

"She said some mean things," Ava spoke as she moved to put the book in its pile.

"About?"

"About me."

"That was it?" Sarah handed her another book, and Ava nodded. "You've never punched people before for making fun of you."

"You would know." Ava gave a bit of a snort as she said it.

"I’m sorry."

Ava turned around, shocked by Sara’s words. Her face seemed to apologetic as if to reassure Ava that her words were true.

"I’m sorry for making fun of you. It was stupid, and I shouldn't have. I can be kind of a bitch sometimes."

Ava wanted to agree with that.

"I don't know why I snap at people like that." Sara began moving the books around. "I just do. Maybe because I hate myself, maybe because I hate my life. I don’t know."

"Hey." Ava walked over, suddenly concerned for Sara.

"It’s fine." Sara waved her off and handed her another book. "W."

Ava smiled. "It wasn't just about me. She was making fun of other people too."

Sara just nodded as Ava went to put the book in its pile.

"She and her friends were saying really nasty stuff. They egged me on."

"Funny hun, how you end up in detention, and they don't."

Sara did have a point.

-

Wednesday, they were cleaning the windows.

"I hate my life too," Ava said suddenly.

"Hun?" Sara looked over at her, confused.

"I know you think my life is perfect, with what my perfect grades and my picture-perfect family. But it’s not."

Sara stayed quiet, and Ava continued to wipe down the windows as she talked. "My parents want me to be perfect. If I don't do well, then I feel like I'm this huge disappointment. They have such high expectations of me, and sometimes I worry that I won't live up to them."

"I guess I'm just jealous,” Sara said. “Jealous that you’re so smart. Jealous that your parents are together. Jealous cause you're rich."

"I don't even know if my parents are in love anymore. They don't fight, but it feels like they’re just together as a part of some business contract. And being rich isn't that great. I have to go to these horrible company parties with all these old businesses men. It’s horrible."

Sara smiled slightly. "Well, at least you’re not living under your sister’s shadow."

"I wish I had a sibling."

"I get it, were both messed up."

Ava chuckled despite herself.

"Soon, high school will be over, and we will be able to get away from it all."

-

Thursday, they were cleaning classrooms.

"They were talking about me, weren’t they?"

Ava stopped halfway through the stroke of the chalkboard brush.

"Yes." She turned towards Sara. "How did you find out?"

"You know how gossip gets around school." Sara was wiping down the desks as she spoke.

"What did you hear?"

"Just that they were making fun of me, and you stood up for me, so they started making fun of you too."

Ava nodded.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because they were being disrespectful. They said that bisexuality wasn’t real."

"They did?"

Ava nodded. "They were being super homophobic. They were talking like they were scared you were going to make a move on them."

"They wish."

Ava laughed at that, and Sara started joining in with her.

"How do you stand it?" Ava asked.

"I don’t. Why do you think I'm in detention so much? You want to know what it was this time?"

Ava hadn’t even thought to ask.

"Ever since Meghan’s party, people have been weird. And I was so pissed that I ended up yelling at Mr. Atoche. But will he listen to me? No. And certainly not the principal."

"I'm sorry Sara. You don't deserve it."

"I know. Thanks for standing up for me."

"They had it coming."

-

Worry washed over Ava as she was called down to the principal’s office on Friday. It was her last day of detention, and she couldn’t afford any more screw-ups.

When Ava waked in, she found Sara already in the office.

"Please have a seat Miss Sharpe." The principal spoke.

Ava was confused but sat down.

"Miss Lance here thought that you could help explain some things."

Ava just nodded. She looked over at Sara, who had her arms crossed, looking frustrated and annoyed.

"Was your fight with Renee over some homophobic comments she made?"

"Yes." Ava nodded.

"See!" Sara waved in hands in annoyance.

The principal waved his own hand up and down in a calming motion.

"These comments were directed at Miss Lance?"

"Yes."

"And yourself?"

"Yes," Ava replied more slowly.

The principal looked at Sara then back at Ava. "That's all Miss Sharpe. You’re free to go."

Ava left equally as confused as she was when she entered.

When school was over, Sara and Ava went back to cleaning the classrooms.

"What was that all about this morning?" Ava asked.

“Renee decided to go cry to the principal about a fight we got into, that _she_ started. So I told him the truth. How she's been harassing me, and how you only got into a fight with her because of what she said. I was trying to explain that you didn't deserve to be punished.”

"What did he say after I left?"

"He said he’s going to talk to Renee and her parents. Like that's going to do anything." Sara sighed. "It’s not fair. And now they're going to go after you too."

Ava hadn’t even thought of that.

Sara was still shaking her head as she wiped the desks down.

“Thanks.” Ava murmured quietly.

“You stood up for me, so I returned the favour. I’m no longer in your debt.”

-

Ava was bored all weekend, being grounded with her electronics taken away. She was rather looking forward to going back to school on Monday, even though it meant the dreaded weekly morning assembly.

Monday Ava sat uncomfortably by herself on the bleachers as a teacher read the announcements. The kids the row in front of her were throwing scrunched up pieces of paper at each other, not paying attention. The principal walked up next.

"Good morning, everyone. I would like to add something that has come to my attention recently. That being the bullying and harassment of students at this school. I would like to remind everyone that bullying will not be tolerated and is not acceptable. Homophobia, racism or any discrimination will not be allowed. I urge students to be aware of that behaviour and work to better themselves. Discrimination in any form is not acceptable. Not only is it hurtful, but it is harmful. If there is any form of discrimination in the future, I will be addressing the problem with the students personally. That is all."

Ava was comforted by his words but wondered if it would really help. After the anthem, everyone was dismissed. Ava had barely walked out of the gymnasium before the principal stopped her once again.

"I would like to speak to you and Miss Lance once again." He said.

Ava went to go wait in his office till Sara arrived.

"We meet again." Sara smiled, sitting down next to Ava.

"You think that whole speech is going to change anything?" Ava asked.

Sara shrugged. "I don't know."

The principal walked in and sat behind his desk.

"I wanted to apologies to you both for what happened."

"It’s not you who should apologize." Sara murmured.

"Yes, and Miss Rothberg will apologize to you both, but I wanted to apologize well. Though I don't agree with either of your behaviours, I do agree that Miss Rothberg was also in the wrong. I hope in the future you both feel accepted at this school."

"Accepted." Sara scoffed. "Maybe you should be more accepting then."

"What do you suggest Miss Lance?"

"I don't know, like a counsellor for kids struggling with LGBT issues. Maybe an LGBT group. Oh, and talk about other sexualities in sex ED. Put some pride flags up. Have your employees do those anti-discrimination courses."

The principal wrote down all of Sara's suggestions as she said them, nodding his head, taking her seriously. "Thank you Miss Lance. I do appreciate your input."

Sara seemed unconvinced.

"Maybe you would like to start up an LGBT group here at school yourself."

Sara fidgeted as she considered the offer. "You'd let me do that?"

"Of course." He nodded.

"Maybe."

He smiled.

"You have anything to add Miss Sharpe?"

Ava shook her head.

"Alright. Well, I believe Miss Rothberg is outside."

They got up, and sure enough, Renee was sitting in the front office. She stood up as soon as they walked out. "I'm sorry for saying the things I said to you both."

"Apology not accepted." Sara crossed her arms.

The principal coughed as if urging Sara to reconsider.

"She’s still going to be homophobic. She's just apologizing because you made her. I don’t have to accept her apology." Sara walked out of the office without anyone stopping her.

Ava looked to the principal and back to Renee. No one was saying anything, and she quietly slipped away following after Sara. She wasn't going to forgive Renee if Sara wasn't.

Sara was a few steps ahead of Ava, but she paused as she walked to the top of a ramp in the hall.

"He's not pissed, is he?" Sara turned around to ask.

"I don't think so."

"Good, because I'm not going to forgive her."

"You don't have to." Ava caught up to Sara. "Are you going to start the club?"

"I don't even know anything about running a club. And no one’s going to join anyway, everyone hates me."

"That's not true. You have friends."

Sara looked over at her but said nothing.

"And you don't know how many people are gay at this school that are just waiting for something like this. I think those things you suggested were really great ideas. I wish I had the courage to stand up for those things like you did. Hell, I probably would have forgiven Renee if you hadn’t walked out like that."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you'd make a great leader because you have the courage to stand up and be bold. I mean you’re the only kid in school who's out, you’re the only one brave enough to do that. I've always kind of idolized you for that."

"I thought you hated me?"

"Trust me, I do." Ava laughed. "I hate you because you interrupt class and all that. And I hate that you felt comfortable enough to come out." Ava shuffled her feet, staring down at them. She could feel Sara's eyes on her. "You just seem so sure of yourself."

"Trust me Sharpe, I don't have things figured out at all."

"I know, your life sucks."

She nodded. "Running the club does sound pretty cool. I like what you said. I like the idea of helping others. That would be nice. I know how hard it is to struggle with your sexuality. It would have been nice to have had someone to talk about it with. Or to see that I would make it out semi okay."

Ava nodded.

"Still, I'm way too disorganized. And isn't there like a budget for clubs? I don't know anything about money."

"I could help." Ava offered slowly, scratching the back of her neck.

"You want to join the club?"

Ava's heart was racing widely. "Well…I…I like girls…so…" She had said it, just like that. Her heart was beating like crazy.

"You know, you’d probably be a better club organizer then me. I could be like the face, and you could control everything."

"Yeah." Ava nodded.

"Yeah!” Sara smiled.

Ava was still nodding, trying to calm herself.

"Cool. Well, I got to get to class, but we’ll talk more later." Sara began to walk away before turning back around. "Ava, if Renee or any of her friends come for you, I’ll punch them for you this time."

"I thought you already repaid me?"

"Yeah, but I really want to punch her."

Ava laughed, and Sara walked off. Ava felt calm and at peace for the first time in a long time. The future was uncertain, but she felt like maybe things would start to change for the better around the school.

**Author's Note:**

> this is only meant to be a one shot. I'm trying to focus on writing my Avalance teen pregnancy fic. Let me say that if I could write a really introspective character piece of Avalance in high school, I would, because I think about it a lot


End file.
